


rumor has it

by Anonymous



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-18
Updated: 2021-01-18
Packaged: 2021-03-17 04:06:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28842843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Hades hears from a sound source that there’s a good chance that Nico di Angelo is dating Leo Valdez, so Hades pays Leo a visit. It goes about as well as you’d expect, which is to say not at all.Or so, Leo thinks.
Relationships: Nico di Angelo/Leo Valdez
Comments: 1
Kudos: 75
Collections: Anonymous





	rumor has it

**Author's Note:**

> title from adele song of the same name
> 
> this was originally posted on tumblr when i wrote it years ago, and i never put it on ao3. other than any formatting changes and making it more aesthetically pleasing, this has not been altered.
> 
> nicochondria says hello.

The beginning of the end all started with Aphrodite.

Maybe that shouldn’t have been a surprise, but it sure was one when the goddess of Love appeared at the foot of Hades’ throne, seemingly having let herself into the palace.

“Oh, Hades! My dear…” Aphrodite paused a moment to wrinkle her nose, though whether it was in disgust of the interior design or the thought of being too many things in relation to her to count, the Lord of the Dead wasn’t sure. “Well, lord. I have news from above! You know, the place that you don’t visit all too often to shut yourself in this cave.”

Hades decided not to mention that he didn’t shut himself in since of the gambling the Big Three had done to assign each with a domain – luck hadn’t been on his side – in favor of responding to Aphrodite’s other statement. “Hermes is the one who usually brings me news. Or my son, in fact.”

“Which brings me to what I want to tell you.” Aphrodite flipped her long blonde hair over her shoulder, her azure eyes twinkling – the spitting image of Persephone.

Hades tilted his head upwards with an air of royalty which rang throughout the room, despite no words being spoken: _I am the one in control and you must obey me, or pay dearly._

Aphrodite didn’t seem to be fazed and continued on. “Your son.”

The Lord of the Dead nodded, “And what about him?”

If the goddess of Love was annoyed, she didn’t show it. “You know what I rule over, Hades. I think you know what I’m going to tell you.”

“That may be true, but I want to hear it from your mouth, Aphrodite.”

Now Aphrodite rolled her eyes. “I heard from a little bird that he’s dating Hephaestus’ favorite. The one who escaped from you.”

The room felt as though it had dropped twenty degrees, and Hades glowered at the love goddess, who had the decency to look chastened. “I thought you knew better than to mention those who have pried their way out of Death’s embrace in my presence.”

“I thought you knew better to accept facts as they are told, and not hide behind pride and denial that stems from shame of oneself.”

Hades harrumphed at this, and gestured for Aphrodite to continue.

Aphrodite gave Hades a soft smile, hands spread out in front of her in a clear sign of peace. “And when I say little birds, I mean that I have seen this with my own eyes. And he is _happy,_ Hades _._ Is that not what you want from your only son?”

The god of the Underworld sat in silence for a moment before nodding his agreement. “Thank you, Aphrodite. Is that all?”

“Yes, Lord. That is all.”

“Very well.” Hades waved his hand, “You are dismissed.” Aphrodite gave him a strange look, but did not protest, and glided away from the throne, while Hades mulled over his next course of action.

* * *

Leo didn’t want the lethal slip dispenser to shoot out confetti.

He liked confetti well enough, it was just that… well, it was supposed to be lethal. And shooting out confetti? Oh yeah, that just _screams_ murderous intent.

Leo decided that his life sucked if all he could do was throw a parade instead of killing monsters.

As soon as he thought that, his satisfaction of life dropped into the negatives when his boyfriend’s father popped in front of him.

“Leo Valdez.”

“Yeah, that’s me.” Leo wanted to sigh, but kept his voice as light as possible, in fear of Hades smiting him where he stood. “Is there something you want? Because if it’s an instant parade, well, I got that for you.” He waved a hand to the failed killing machine as Hades simply raised an eyebrow.

“That’s not why I’m here.” His voice was dangerously low. Was he angry? Leo just hoped he wasn’t angry at _him_.

“Oh, yeah? What is it then?”

“I heard that my son is in a relationship with you.”

Ay, mierda. Had the news really spread so far that Nico’s father himself heard about it? The same immortal being that needed someone to bang their fist on the ground to get his attention? That wasn’t good.

Leo laughed nervously, pulling at the collar of his shirt. “Oh yeah? Who told you that? Don’t want for false information to leak.”

Hades wasn’t impressed, and merely tapped his foot impatiently, which reminded Leo of Nico. Which made sense, seeing as Nico was… well, Hades’ son.

Leo sighed, his shoulders slumping as he did so. “Yeah, we’re holding hands and cuddling. The whole she-bang.” 

“I see. So, this is what you do after coming back to life. Romance my son.”

“Uh… yeah?”

The god of the Underworld nodded and stared intently at Leo, which made him squirm, before finally speaking. “Actually, I am reminded of when you came back to Camp Half-Blood. Nobody was happy to see you. It has occurred to me repeatedly that maybe you were truly better off staying in my domain.”

And… _wow_ , that stung. Nothing like your romantic partner’s father telling you that you should have stayed dead. That nobody cared for you, and wanted you to be gone forever.“Ouch.”

Leo was sure that his inner anguish showed, since Hades smirked down at him. Seeing that smug expression made his blood boil. He had seen that face too many times to let anyone go without some sort of payback. He’d do anything to wipe that smirk off of his face.

And in that anger, he did what might have been the worst decision in his life to date.

“Oh yeah? Somehow, I don’t really believe that, because your son sure seemed to be excited to see me. A bit _too_ excited, if you know what I mean.”

Hades instantaneously dropped his mouth, and Leo felt a sweeping feeling of pride, but not a moment after, dread.

This was it. So long, world. 

But then, Hades let out a boisterous laugh, shaking Leo to the core. “Uh… aren’t you gonna, you know, send me back to the Underworld?”

After a moment, Hades collected himself, his shoulders still trembling from his laughter. “No, you shall get a pass.” Then, he stood tall, looming over the Latino. “But you better watch yourself in the future. Not all of us gods are forgiving of cheek.”

And with that, the god of the Underworld melted back into the shadows, leaving Leo to gape at the spot where he stood.

“Well. That went well.”


End file.
